Lindsey Graham Just Made A Huge Mistake By Letting Mueller Testify

[babylonsister]

https://www.politicususa.com/2020/07/12/lindsey-graham-mueller-testify.html

Posted on Sun, Jul 12th, 2020 by Jason Easley
Lindsey Graham Just Made A Huge Mistake By Letting Mueller Testify


Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will allow Robert Mueller to testify because he thinks he can discredit Mueller and help Trump, but he has made a big mistake.

snip//

Graham isn’t breaking with Trump. With whispers growing that Graham’s seat could potentially be in play in South Carolina, The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman is allowing Mueller to testify as a Hail Mary to earn points with Republican voters in South Carolina while trying to help Trump by changing the subject away from the pandemic.

Sen. Graham thinks that he can steamroll Mueller, but the former special counsel might be free to say a lot more before the Senate now that his work is done, and he has no further ongoing obligations than he could when he testified before the House.

It is a massive blunder to put a giant spotlight on the Trump/Russia connection as Trump is actively soliciting election interference from foreign governments.

The fact that Graham is willing to take this risk shows how dire the situation is for Trump and the Republicans. The odds are that Mueller’s testimony will backfire on Graham and cause more damage to Trump and his fading reelection prospects.

[soothsayer]

1. I hope so

But I don’t trust anyone or anything much these days

[helpisontheway]

2. Mueller is not a good witness. Nt

[Siwsan]

4. I saw Mueller as a constrained witness

As in there was a WHOLE lot more he wanted to say but his misplaced, 'old school' loyalty habit kept that contained.

Maybe this time he will be a bit more forthcoming.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. Considering he spontaneously wrote an op-ed column blasting the Stone commutation

I think he might have something to say.

[unblock]

14. i think he will defend the integrity of his investigation

i think earlier he was indeed constrained as he probably felt his duty was to submit the report to the ag and for the most part to let the ag publicize the results.

now, though, donnie has effectively called mueller's entire investigation so much of a witch hunt that he had to essentially undo his work on a central figure.

that's not the sort of thing most people take without some pushback.

i'm not holding my breath for mueller to shout from the hilltops what a scum donnie is, but i do expect he will do what he needs to do to try to restore his own reputation, i.e., to argue that his investigation was a good one and uncovered some important truths.

[jrthin]

13. +100

And that is probably the reason Lindsey agreed to have Mueller testify.

[Bettie]

3. I have very little hope that Mueller

will be forthcoming.

He's a Republican. His wife and Barr's are friends and he's a friend of Barr.

He'll choose party over country every time, like the vast majority of them.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. Agree,Party

loyalty .

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Is it Fitzmas again already?

Still waiting for that pony I was promised.

Keep expectations low and you’ll never be disappointed.

[empedocles]

6. Agree. Mueller should be able to hold his own. The upward trend, at least, of the virus

is predicable for awhile.

Stock markets are a shakey, tall house of cards.

trump has always made things worse

Seems that the Speaker is going on this long game - worked so far.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Perfect timing following the Stone debacle

I don’t think it will distract from the pandemic, it will just remind voters of Trump’s previous corruption.

[Hoyt]

8. I don't see what Graham hopes to gain. Mueller's last appearance was awful. It's very possible --

as his Op-Ed on Stone indicates -- Mueller is ticked the way his findings have been portrayed.

Don't think Mueller can help trump anymore than he already has, and there is the risk that Mueller tells Congress they should have gone after trump and his campaign for obstruction and his continued failure to stop foreign interference in our elections. If I were Mueller, seeing the way he's been bashed (and rightly so for his mealy mouthed report), I come out blasting away in what will likely be his final chance to repent for letting trump off the hook. Not counting on it, though.

[jalan48]

10. Another distracting dud for the populace.

[spanone]

11. K&R

[Me.]

12. Never Ask A Question You Don't KNow The Answer To

as a former JAG Lindsey should know that

[gratuitous]

17. Sen. Graham also holds the gavel

If there is any testimony he doesn't like, he just rules it out of order or nonresponsive, and it's stricken from the record. It's also unclear if Mueller will appear in a public hearing or if it will be held in executive session without a public record. That certainly worked well for the Republicans when the Senate heard Bush and Cheney together in closed session to find out about the 9/11 attacks. To this day, nobody outside that committee session has seen an unredacted transcript, and neither Bush nor Cheney have ever testified under oath on their own.

[Me.]

19. True

but the Dems will be a good counterpoint. Also, if Mueller were to say something that Graham figured to be advantage Trump he would be first out the gate, but I doubt MUeller will.

[duforsure]

15. trump behind making Graham do this, probably,

To try and claim he committed perjury for Barr to go after him with, and make an example of what happens to people who go after trump. They want to set him up for leverage .

[GeorgeGist]

18. Mueller's a dud!

[rusty fender]

20. Mueller will

say the bare minimum. He will not criticize Trumpass in public testimony.